Minnesota-based publisher Graywolf Press has announced a new “Graywolf Press Africa Prize,” and translations are eligible:

The prize, organizers say, will be awarded “for a first novel manuscript by an African author primarily residing in Africa.” Judges are author A. Igoni Barrett (Blackass) and the Graywolf editors.

As for a prize, “The winning manuscript will receive a $12,000 advance and publication by Graywolf Press, which will include a dedicated effort to making the book available in major markets in African countries.”

What are they looking for?

Graywolf Press is always looking for work that is distinctive, artistically singular, and of a high literary quality. For this prize, we are seeking novels that are engaged with the current moment—stories that could only be told in our time. We are excited by the wealth of talented and imaginative writers coming from a wide range of African countries and look forward to encountering authors who approach contemporary issues with innovative prose and fresh perspectives. With this prize we hope to amplify the voice of a new author, whose novel will be published alongside exemplary African writers on the Graywolf list such as Tsitsi Dangarembga (This Mournable Body, forthcoming 2018), Binyavanga Wainaina (One Day I Will Write About This Place, 2012), Nuruddin Farah (Sweet and Sour Milk, 2006), Anouar Benmalek (The Lovers of Algeria, 2004), and this year’s judge, A. Igoni Barrett (Love Is Power, or Something Like That, 2013, and Blackass, 2016).

All submissions must be full-length, previously unpublished novel manuscripts in English, and translations are acceptable. Applicants may have had prior books, as long as none of these were a novel. Submissions must be made electronically, via Submittable, between October 1 and October 31, 2017.